The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Begonia plant, botanically known as Begonia hiemalis, commercially referred to as a Elatior Begonia and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘BKPBEELA’.
The new Begonia plant is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Amstelveen, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program was to develop new freely branching and freely flowering Begonia plants with attractive foliage and flower colors.
The new Begonia plant originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in September, 2006 of a proprietary selection of Begonia hiemalis identified as code number 06-289-03, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Begonia hiemalis identified as code number 6500604, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Begonia plant was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant from within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled greenhouse environment in Amstelveen, The Netherlands in November, 2007.
Asexual reproduction of the new Begonia plant by tip cuttings in a controlled greenhouse environment in Amstelveen, The Netherlands since August, 2008 has shown that the unique features of this new Begonia plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.